Bruce Springsteen, Dave Matthews, Eddie Vedder to Help Celebrate Pete Seeger's 90th

Bruce Springsteen, Dave Matthews, Eddie Vedder, Tom Morello and dozens of other musicians will help Pete Seeger celebrate his 90th birthday May 3rd, during a concert at Madison Square Garden. The concert, which will also feature performances of the folk icon's songs by Warren Haynes, Joan Baez, Arlo Guthrie, Emmylou Harris and Kris Kristofferson, will benefit the Clearwater organization, organizers announced this morning.

"It's a huge honor," Seeger told Rolling Stone. "Normally, I don't ever go in for big things. Bruce [Springsteen] had to persuade me to go down to Washington; and Clearwater had to persuade me to do Madison Square Garden." In 2006, Springsteen released We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions, a collection of folk songs made famous by Seeger. The pair was also joined by Seeger's grandson for a performance of "This Land Is Your Land" as part of President Barack Obama's inauguration ceremonies in January.

"I grew up sneaking into folk clubs when I was 14-years-old, to hear local folksingers, and Pete was a hero," Haynes said. "I don't think I could miss it." The show will also reunite Seeger with Joan Baez, who also performed with him at the inauguration ceremonies, and sat down for an RS interview earlier this year.

The banjo-slinging activist singer-songwriter founded Hudson River Sloop Clearwater in 1969 to help trigger a cleanup of the Hudson River, which for decades has been polluted by cancer-causing PCBs. Seeger lives in Dutchess County, New York, not far from the river. Ticket prices will range from $19.19 (the year Seeger was born) to $250 with a majority priced at $90 to honor Pete's milestone. Additional ticket information can be found at the Clearwater Concert Website.

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Song Stories

“(We're Not) The Jet Set”

George Jones and Tammy Wynette | 1973

George Jones and Tammy Wynette were still married when they recorded the tongue-in-cheek "(We're Not) The Jet Set." The lyrics, written by Nashville songwriter Bobby Braddock, who also penned Wynette's "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" and Jones' "He Stopped Loving Her Today," make fun of the good life by declaring, "We're not the Jet Set/We're the old Chevrolet set." Braddock recalled that while writing the song, he needed the name of a city that evened out the rhyme he had with "Riviera" and "Missourah." “I got out a Rand McNally atlas," he said. "In the first part are the maps. The last part is an alphabetical listing of cities. I wanted a rustic, small-time sound. I went to the listing for Missouri. And I found 'Festus.' I loved the sound of it."

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